The length of an adult snowy owl ranges from 52 – 71 cm. Their height is anywhere between 55 – 75 cm. The wingspan of an adult ranges from 126 – 145 cm. The weight of an adult ranges from 1600 – 2950 g. Its tail length is 8 ¾ – 10 ¾ in. The females of this species are just a tiny bit bigger.

Their eyes are golden yellow, but they are pretty small compared to other owl species.

This bird can be either almost completely grey or almost completely reddish-brown but it has yellow eyes either way. It is good at camouflage because of the spots on its body. This species is one of the smaller ones as the adults are only about 23cm tall, but their feet are pretty big compared to its body.

Predators of this owl includes weasels, American minks, black rat snakes, skunks, ring-tails, and more.

Owls of this species eat a lot of insects and invertebrates take up half its diet which includes moths, cicadas, beetles, crickets, grasshoppers and more but if needed will eat any other insect that can fly. It also eats snails, spiders, leeches, millipedes, and rodents such as rats and squirrels.

In captivity this owl can live up to almost 20 years but they live for only about 14 years in the wild.

It adapts surprisingly well to man-made structures. This owl is not easy to be seen and much more likely to be heard. The early Indians thought that owls were the birds of wisdom. This owl is also known as the Arctic Owl or the Great White owl.

There are five subspecies of the Eastern Screech Owl. They are:
M. a. Asio: Can be found in Canada and U.S.A. and its upper body is cold gray and red.
M. a. maxwelliae: Can be found in Canada and U.S.A. and their upper body is pale white grey and red.
M. a. hasbroucki: Can be found in U.S.A. and their upper body is bright grey and red.
M. a. mccallii: Can be found U.S.A. and Europe and their upper body is also white grey and red.
M. a. floridanus: Can be found in U.S.A. and their upper body is reddish-brown.